CROSBYTON 40, LORENZO 0

LORENZO As a four-year letterman on the Crosbyton football team, Ben Rogers can still remember when the Chiefs were considered one of the laughing stocks of District 5-1A.

Four years later, it was Rogers and his teammates who had the last laugh, as Crosbyton defeated Lorenzo 40-0 on Friday at Hornet Field.

With the victory, the Chiefs (7-3 overall, 5-1 District 5-1A) secured second place in District 5-1A, earning their first playoff birth since 1991.

"As freshmen we went 0-10, so we've been waiting for this for a long time," said Rogers, who finished with two touchdown passes and pair of touchdown runs. "This is the best game we've ever played, and I'm just proud of all the guys."

Altogether, Rogers was 6-of-8 passing for 69 yards, but seemed poised in leading a dominant Chiefs offense.

Crosbyton head coach Neal Hugg said he wanted to run the ball as much as possible, so Lorenzo's quick-strike offense wouldn't get a chance to score.

The game plan worked perfectly, as his squad ran crazy against the Hornets (5-4, 3-2), amassing 367 rushing yards.

The Chiefs were led by the running back tandem of Kerry Palvadore and Jake Pickering, who ran for 157 and 194 yards, respectively.

"They run a spread offense and pass a lot, so we just wanted to drive, take some time off the clock and score," Hugg said. "I thought our guys did a good job of just battling and the offensive line did a wonderful job tonight."

The Chiefs used two Hornet turnovers in the first quarter to take the early lead, and they never looked back after that.

The first takeaway came on Lorenzo's first possession of the game, when Brad Cruz intercepted a pass by quarterback Kelly Hurst deep in Crosbyton territory.

The Chiefs took advantage of the miscue and marched 88 yards on 16 plays to score the game's first touchdown on a 4-yard dive by Palvadore.

The Hornets responded on their ensuing drive, rushing for 45 yards on their first four plays. But, just when it looked like Lorenzo might even up the score, the turnover bug bit them again.

On first-and-20 in Chief territory, Hurst was picked off again, this time by Rogers, who then returned the ball 58 yards for the touchdown.

"I knew that if they scored early, then we would be in trouble," Lorenzo head coach Felix Martinez said. "Mistakes offensively and defensively just killed us. But they've got a great team, and I give them a lot of credit."

The Chiefs used Rogers' big defensive play to gain momentum, and added two more touchdowns before halftime to take 27-0 lead.

Defensively, the Chiefs also were dominant, surrendering only 98 total yards to the Hornets.

"We're excited about (the playoff berth)," Hugg said. "We've had lots of struggles the last couple of years and keeping the kids involved, but this is the reward we get."